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#OWS: The human mic

Speaker systems may not be allowed at the protest, but the group has found a sound system-free way to get messages across: The human microphone.

10 Oct 2011 13:58 GMT

You can hear it blocks away from Liberty Plaza near Wall Street, where an ever growing number of protesters have occupied the square for the past three weeks.

Thousands of voices, conversing, debating, speechifying, united in a kind of call and response cadence that crescendos in waves.

The New York Police Department prohibits the use of electronic sound amplifiers - megaphones, microphones and loudspeakers - without a permit. The occupiers do not have one.

So they are using what they call the human mic.

It works like this the person addressing the crowd in the shadow of the large angular sculpture that stands at the corner of Broadway and Cedar and is universally referred to as 'the red thing' shouts:

“It’s a beautiful night...”

Those seated around her respond by repeating:

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT...”

She goes on:

“...to occupy Wall Street.”

The echo comes back, much louder, and people who are sitting or standing too far away to hear her solitary voice can hear the words now that they are spoken by hundreds of others:

“...TO OCCUPY WALL STREET.”

The human mic is a form of resistance to a police regulation designed to maintain a certain kind of order.

'Rambling is not an option'

It is also a crucial facilitator of the twice-daily General Assemblies, open meetings at which working groups announce their activities and ask for feedback: “The medic group is making herbal tea every morning, but we want to know what kinds you need the direct action working group meets every day at 02:00pm. You are all welcome to join us.”

It facilitates the kind of direct democratic process that many protest organisers say is a retort and even an alternative to the democracy deficit in the United States, where one per cent of the population controls almost 40 per cent of the wealth, and exercises a disproportionate influence on politicians and electoral politics.

The occupiers’ numbers have grown so much over the past two weeks that most General Assemblies and Open Forums (at which speakers give a short talk and answer questions) require two waves of amplification to reach the outer edges of the crowd.

“Our movement has surpassed our wildest expectations...”

“OUR MOVEMENT HAS SURPASSED OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS...”

“OUR MOVEMENT HAS SURPASSED OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS...”

“...and it’s going to keep growing...”

“...AND IT’S GOING TO KEEP GROWING...”

“...AND IT’S GOING TO KEEP GROWING...”

“...so the facilitation working group has a proposal...”

“...SO THE FACILITATION WORKING GROUP HAS A PROPOSAL...”

“...SO THE FACILITATION WORKING GROUP HAS A PROPOSAL...”

“...for a working group spokes council...”

“...FOR A WORKING GROUP SPOKES COUNCIL...”

“...FOR A WORKING GROUP SPOKES COUNCIL...”

“...to improve the transparency, accountability and structure of our organising...”

“...TO IMPROVE THE TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND STRUCTURE OF OUR ORGANISING...”

“...TO IMPROVE THE TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND STRUCTURE OF OUR ORGANISING...”

It is not a perfect technology.

'Amplifying people's voices'

Sometimes the human mic breaks down. Speakers forget to wait for the repeat, or use more words than the human mic can remember. The human amplifiers miss words, or garble unexpected ones. (At the open forum on Sunday afternoon, philosopher Slavoj Zizek’s use of “pseudo-activity” threatened to confound the mic.)

Then the speaker or the session facilitator calls “mic check” and waits for the responses to readjust and fall back into unison.

Perhaps more problematically, it can be a slow-going, time-consuming way to have a conversation, debate issues, and make decisions. General Assemblies last for hours. Protesters get hoarse, tired, and sometimes frustrated.

But it also nurtures a kind of concise thoughtfulness. Speakers choose their words carefully rambling is not an option. The assembly listens carefully you can not get distracted or talk over the conversation when you have to repeat every word that is spoken.

Indeed, the ground rule for the human mic is that everyone must repeat everything that is said, regardless of whether you or not you agree with it. In a group of hundreds (or thousands) deprived of megaphones and loudspeakers, it is required to hear anything at all, and thus required in order to be able disagree.

So, the human mic seems to cultivate a kind of egalitarian attention to one another. And on occupied Wall Street, what began as a way of circumventing an inconvenient police rule has come to function as a regular demonstration of solidarity and co-operation, amplifying the people's voices.

“We are saying to the guys on Wall Street...” (Zizek shouts) “WE ARE SAYING TO THE GUYS ON WALL STREET...”